Crimson Clouds
by Temamaru
Summary: What would they do in the face of war? What decisions would they make? And what has life planned for Temari and Shikamaru? Can they still be together?------------- Answers here...


A/N: I just corrected a little bit... :P

**Crimson Clouds**

by Temamaru

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

She was his wind. He was her shadow. Wherever she may go, he would be at her side, like a shadow and she would lead him the way and give him strength to go further, like the wind.

For both of them it didn't matter where their path would lead them to or when it would tear up. The only thing that was important was them. The We made of You and I.

Even in times of war.

It was that kind of war which was against all Shikamaru's and Temari's hopes. A war between Konohagakure and Sunagakure.

The worst nightmare became truth when they had to face each other in terms of war, standing on opposite sides.

The evenings they had made love while the sun went down across the horizon, turning the sky into a warm red now seemed to be a memory lost in time, lost in fight, lost in blood. Just like the nights when they laid at morning in each other embrace awoken by the sunlight to see their loved one as first. And now their time was ended just like some lives may fall in this war. Even if they would try to, they couldn't turn their backs against their villages. There was no chance for a normal life together. Life wasn't patient to give them time nor was fate.

There was never time enough.

War. A war caused by the death of Tsunade. It was the root for a tree of fights within Konoha, a civil war between the different clans for naming a new Hokage. Konoha broke into groups, some of them acting in the underground. One of this group was lead by Shikamaru, having fast some followers because of his destination to rebuild Konoha by splitting the power of the Hokage into a parliament. Which meant that the civil war was for Shikamaru a war against politics, trying to convince everyone in Konoha of his idea, so the struggle for power will break.

But fate betrayed Shikamaru and his calculations. In Suna the news reached the Kazekage fast and so he planned to stop the civil war in Konoha by interfering. After he had send some spies to report him about the situation in Konoha, he tried to stop the civil war with politics by sending ambassadors to the heads of the clans. But when his people never returned, Gaara was forced to make the decision to stop interfering and led Konoha be or to hold war against war to take over control of Konoha until a new Hokage was found. Temari was more insecure in this decision than her brother, Gaara. She didn't want to lose Shikamaru either way, if he falls in civil war or if he loses his life in a war against Suna. But even more she didn't want Shikamaru to die by a hand of a shinobi of Suna or even worse have to fight him. Nevertheless she couldn't convince Gaara and he made his decision of war, fearing that it would have lead anyway to a war while Konoha was instable.

Life was something Shikamaru would give for only two things in his life: Temari and his village, Konoha.

So after the declaration of war he decided to fight for his village, frightened that his idea would go under and Konoha would be lead into depression under a forced head, while the clans would be in dispute. In all hopes that his bloody path wouldn't cross Temari's he made his decision, looking a last time at the fluffy clouds which slowly began to became hazier as the days between civil war and war passed by. In this chaos he seemed to have lost his friends out of his eyes. Of most of them he didn't know where there hideaway was or if they still fought. Maybe their blood was already soaked into Konoha's earth or they where wounded. Many of them joined his group like Chouji, Shino, Naruto, Neji, Sakura and some others, but after the declaration of Suna they decided to split up. Some of them believed Konoha could not be freed anymore by Shikamaru's idea so they have turned to Suna and some of them believed that there was still the possibility to give Konoha the freedom with a balanced parliament, having everyone to vote one member, so that there won't be complications anymore by voting the head. And as Shikamaru's group was torn apart, this process could be detected in other groups as well. The result was that the side of Konoha, who fought against Suna wasn't as big as it could be and maybe was even smaller than the number of Suna's fighters, but in war either you fight or you die or live under pressure.

This was why Temari and Shikamaru where now standing opposite each other on the big battlefield. Although Shikamaru succeeded to reduce the number of the Sunan nins drastically by a perfect ambush, when they started to attack he knew Temari wouldn't be on one of the first rows attacking because she was a long range fighter. And now after the decrease of the shinobis of Suna by ambushing them with traps of all kinds and encircling their army, there was nearly one shinobi against one shinobi.

They looked into each others eyes seeing grief, regret, longing and undeniable love.

Looking into the peal of her eyes watching the clear blue colour becoming watery as tears began to form in her eyes when she suddenly sprinted towards him, holding her fan ready to fight, while the tears flew out of her eyes taking a small distance by the wind, caused of her rush movement, in the process blurring a little bit her vision.

Shikamaru missed those eyes, he wanted to drawn in them not seeing the rest of this spectacular full of bloodshed. He remember the way her eyes seemed to lighten up when she laughed, how they sparkled when she made fun of him or lectured him. And how her eyes turned dark when she was angry or exited. That had been one of his favourite motions. The time her bluish eyes had turned dark in the moments of lust and pleasure when there was nothing more important for him in this world than to pleasure her, to see her eyes darken while teasing her, taking all of her, giving her everything, making her feel in heaven and being a part of her. The moment they had locked eyes while floating together through their love to the highest peak.

Now the moment they locked eyes they knew it could never be like this again. Not in this life. Not with this fate. They weren't meant to be a We anymore. On this battlefield they were just You and I again.

As desperate as it was, there was never time enough.

The moment Temari reached him and attacked him with her fan in a regretfully motion, Shikamaru dodged halfheartedly. Getting her fan into his side being pushed a couple of meters. He could feel some ribs break and sank to the ground, holding his side while gasping at the feeling of pain. He thought he couldn't feel pain anymore, but she always had the ability to make him feel.

"Don't hold back!" She yelled at him with an angry voice as she struck again.

All the whips of her fan he could dodge by simply going back, while moving from one to another side.

'She holds back too,' he thought as he foresaw all her strikes. "Don't mind me but your also not at your best condition.

Even now, even in the face of war he could make her angry. So her attacks were more brutally but still her fan was closed. "You really want to get hurt!"

Shikamaru chuckled sadly. "Isn't that what this all about? Fighting in a senseless war, to get wounded by your supposed enemy, trying to stay alive, to rebuild something that was destroyed in the war."

Again there was a hint of regret rushing through her eyes. Temari stopped. "Why are you fighting against Suna?"

"Because I have other plans for Konoha than you have."

By saying that he sealed the fact that they were just enemies and nothing more. "What plans?"

He looked into her eyes. Even if Temari would agree to his idea, even if they would fight together, at the end of the war they couldn't have a future together. It would take years to rebuild trust between Suna and Konoha. It would be a living hell and he made his decision. Shikamaru would die by her hands. So he had to turn her away and stated in a cold way: "Nothing of your business."

Although Shikamaru was a genius, he didn't knew that Temari was aware of what he tried to do. To be honest she wanted the same thing, to die by his hands. Sometimes she wondered how he has changed her. Maybe love had not only its good sides but she would never turn away, if she could turn back time.

And now that she knew of his intentions, Temari had to make sure their both's wishes come true. But to make sure she had to let him see what she has in mind. All without telling him. The truth was already painful enough to know, how could she find words for her will. Probably she couldn't, just like she couldn't find words for her feelings for him.

It was time to make these things come to an end.

"Lazy ass, would you mind attacking properly. We should stop dancing around each other." Shikamaru would fight like ever using his shadows. She would make the first attack and then he would counterattack.

The force her first blow crashed him into a tree and ripped some of his skin.

'Like always she is taking this way to serious.' He smiled as he stood up. Making up a plan how to destroy her defence. But he was startled by the sight as he looked up. Temari stood in front of him, fan closed and leaned at her side. Either she was way to much confident or she wanted him to attack her. But why?

"Don't go easy on me." Instead of her steady voice he reached the answer in her eyes. The way they seemed to plead him, the desperation. She wanted him to attack, wanted him to be the one who takes her life.

She saw his attitude change, how awareness was shown in his face until his careless expression again ruled his mimic, a prove for his theatrical talent. 'I knew he would see through it.'

Again they stood motionlessly in front of each other. After having calculated the situation and the decision if they both should die today Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome..." For a small instant he could see her lovely expression, just like the times they had been alone together and she would only smile her real smile for him. How he missed those times. He wanted them back but in this life they could never be together. He could only hope that they cross paths in the next lives or that they could live happily together in afterlife. He now understood why people believed in such things. So that situations like this become bearable. With this last wishes send to the sky he made his seals for his Kagemane.

Again they were linked but this time Temari's body froze and she couldn't move. As Shikamaru reached for his small bag at his right leg to draw a kunai, she did the same copying his movements after he made sure she pushed the kimono aside. He stepped towards her. Little steps in a steady rhythm while she made the same. They were only a half of an arm's length apart when he stopped walking. It seems that only they existed now. They didn't hear the curses or the yells of pain or saw the bloodstained people lying on the ground. This was the end and they both knew. Now they would take each other out at the same time with the help of the Kagemane. The hand that held the kunai shivered and so did Temari's copying his. He wasn't sure if he could kill her.

"Just do it. I'm always by your side." She whispered with tears forming in her eyes.

No more words laid upon his lips and only images of her beauty crossed his mind. Like the time they had sat at a fountain arm in arm. He remembered that he fell asleep soundlessly but after she noticed she smacked him at the back of the head. In response he muttered something like "What a drag" which made her smile at him and he kept staring at her beautiful smile. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he was blessed to see.

"Smile one last time for me, please." While the rest of her body was frozen Temari could move her lips to a smile and her eyes showed the truth of it.

After a last short kiss he stretched his arm out and stabbed his beloved one near the heart. As she did with him at the same time. He released her of his jutsu and together they sank to the earth, dropping their kunais so they could hold onto each other at the verge of death. He felt something hard between them poking into his chest and as he leaned a little back he saw a necklace with a ring. He looked into her eyes while blood was coming out of the corner her mouth. "Is this..?"

"Yeah it is. I wore it all the time in hope that someday we could fulfil that promise which lies in it. Maybe we can be together after death." Her voice became weak and her breath slower as she watched tears forming in Shikamaru's eyes. Crying along with her for that what was never meant to be in this life.

"I will keep that promise. I will." Shikamaru hold her close as she died. Taken by life and by fate. He looked up at the sky and as the battle was mostly over the sun began to travel her way through the end of the sky turning it crimson. With his last breath he watched her face. The tears she shed made her look even more beautiful and the words engraved on the ring were the last words on the genius' mind:

"My undying love for a life together."

But in this life there was never time enough.

Days after the battle which was political won by Suna but left only a small hands of winners, people tried to rebuild Konoha. Some houses were burned down while others were just a great pile of wood. The graveyard had to be expanded and one of the shinobis buried into the new graves in Konoha was Shikamaru. The grave where Temari was in laid in Suna buried by her brother the Kazekage to his sister's honour.

While everything was trying to change and give a new reason to smile again, the wind howled with longing. And in Konoha the shadows crept across villages, forests and hills to reach its destination.

* * *

A/N: Very well, how did you like it. But please do not flame. I like understandable critic either positive or negative.

Again I hope my language isn't as bad as it seems to me. Sometimes the tenses are used differently to the way it would be used in Germany.

Nevertheless I hope you enjoy the story. Hope you don't mind that my first fic. is a tragic one. I try to write next time a positive one.

Until then by ;)


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